Transmitter control mechanism



Aug. 25, 1964 L. c. ANDERSON, JR, ETAL 3,146,306

TRANSMITTER CONTROL MECHANISM Filed Oct. 17, 1962 2 Sheets-Sheet 1INVENTORS LOUIS C. ANDERSON JR.

ARTHUR A. HAGSTROM ATTORNEY Aug. 25, 1964 L. c. ANDERSON, JR., ETALTRANSMITTER CONTROL MECHANISM Filed Oct. 17, 1962 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 STOPRUN

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INVENTORS LOUIS C. ANDERSON JR. ARTHUR A. HAGSTROM ATTORNEY UnitedStates Patent O 3,146,306 TRANSMITTER CONTROL MECHANlSM Louis C.Anderson, In, Arlington Heights, and Arthur A.

Hagstrom, Hoffman Estates, Roselle, 111., assigr ors to TeletypeCorporation, Skokie, 111., a corporat on of Delaware Filed st. 17, 1962,Ser. No. 231,234 9 Claims. ((31. 17317) This invention relates to aprinting telegraph transmitter control mechanism including a manuallyoperable control lever, and more particularly to a control mechanismcapable of starting and stopping a telegraph transmitter and disablingits tape feeding mechanism.

Heretofore, complicated lever systems operable by one or more controllevers were necessary in order to control these multiple function of atransmitter. The present control mechanism is an extremely simplecontrol mechanism for a transmitter. Preferably, the transmitter is ofthe type disclosed in the copending application of L. C. Anderson, Jr.,A. A. Hagstrom and R. A. Thienemann, Serial No. 231,199 filed October17, 1962.

Accordingly, an object of the invention is to provide a controlmechanism for a telegraph transmitter that performs multifariousfunctions with fewer and less expensive elements.

Another object of the invention is to provide a control lever that notonly controls the starting and stopping of the transmitter butadditionally is capable of disabling the tape feed mechanism to permitfree wheeling of the tape feed wheel and to withdraw the tape-outsensing pin to further expedite movement of the tape through thetransmitter during a free wheeling operation.

A feature of the invention is the provision of a spring urged detentthat not only serves to detent the control lever in a given position butalso serves to retain the control lever within the transmitter.

According to the preferred embodiment of the invention, a one-piece,molded plastic, control lever has its pivot shaft pivotally supported inretaining slots in a contact block and is detented in either an on oroff position by a detent lever that also urges the control lever intothe retaining slots in the contact block. An offset portion on the pivotshaft of the control lever is movable to control on/olf contacts toeither start or stop the transmitter. A depending portion offset fromthe control lever serves to disable the tape feeding and detentingmechanism and due to the contour of the depending extension also servesto lock these mechanisms in a disabled condition. An upstanding portionof the control lever is operable to engage a hook on the trailing end ofa tape-out sensing pin and depress the tape-out sensing pin to permitthe unobstructed movement of the tape through the transmitter when thecontrol lever is in the free wheeling position.

Other features and advantages of the invention will become apparent fromthe following detailed description when considered in conjunction withthe accompanying drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a plan view illustrating a transmitter control mechanismaccording to the preferred embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along the line 22 in FIG. 1 in thedirection of the arrows showing a tape-out sensing pin in its outwardposition;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along the line 3-3 in FIG. 1 in thedirection of the arrows showing the manually operable control lever andtape feeding mechanism, and

FIG. 4 is a view showing the manually operable control lever in its freewheeling position wherein the tape feeding mechanism is disabled.

3,146,306 Patented Aug. 25, 1964 ice The control mechanism hereinafterdescribed is of a type that is disclosed in the copending application ofL. C. Anderson, In, A. A. Hagstrom and R. A. Thienemann, Serial No.231,199 filed October 17, 1962, which application is hereby incorporatedby reference and to which reference may be had for a more completedisclosure of the transmitter in which the control mechanism isutilized. While the control mechanism, hereinafter described, isutilized in the above-identified transmitter, it will be apparent thatthe control mechanism is not limited to use only in this transmitter butis capable of use in other types of transmitters.

The control mechanism consists essentially of a molded one-piece plasticshaft 11 having a manually operable handle 12 (FIG. 3) integrally formedthereon and extending obliquely upward and a plurality of otherintegrally formed actuating arms or appendages thereon which will bedescribed in detail hereinafter.

The shaft 11 terminates in extremities 13 of reduced diameter (FIG. 1)one of which is inserted in an aperture 14 therefor in a side wall 15 ofa contact block 16 and the opposite of which is carried within a slot 17formed in an opposite side wall 18 of the contact block 16. The shaft 11is easily assembled within the contact block 16 merely by inserting thereduced extremity 13 within the aperture 14 and the sliding of theopposite extremity 13 downwardly in the slot 17. The shaft 11 isretained in this position by a detent lever 20 pivotally mounted on anupstanding tab 21 (FIG. 3) formed on the contact block 16. The detentlever 20 has detent notches 25 for detenting engagement with aprojection 24 formed integrally on the shaft 11 and a contractile spring22 connected between the detent lever 21) and a projection 23 on contactblock 16 urges the detent notches 25 into engagement with the projection24. As should be apparent the detent lever 20 thus serves to hold theshaft 11 in either the run or stop positions, to which it has beenrotated, until an operator manipulates the handle 12 again.

When the manually operable handle 12 is in the run position, anenergizing circuit is completed to start the transmitter operating andwhen the manually operable handle 12 is either in the stop or freewheeling positions, the energizing circuit for the transmitter isbroken. The contact block 16 supports three upper wire contact springs30 (FIG. 2) which are pivoted at one end on an upper rounded surface 31of a contact connector 32 and which are biased downwardly by springs 33interconnected between each of the wire contact springs 30 andindividual tangs 34 formed integrally on the contact block 16. With thistype of construction the contact springs are continuously urged torotate in the counterclockwise direction, as seen in FIG. 2, and havetheir free ends urged downwardly into contact with the upper surface ofa contact connector 35 carried within a hollow end wall 36 of thecontact block 16. Each of the contact connectors 32 and 35 is in theenergizing circuit of the transmitter and movement of a wire contactspring 30 into engagement with its associated contact connector 35bridges and completes an energizing circuit for the transmitter that wasformerly open between the wire contact spring 30 and its associatedcontact connector 35.

In FIG. 2 a lower wire contact spring 38 is shown urged into engagementwith a common contact bar 39 under the urging of its associated spring40. A plurality of wire contact springs 38 are provided and are adaptedto have their other ends movable by sensing pins (not shown) therebymaking and breaking contact with the common contact bar 39 as the codecombinations are being sensed in a perforated record medium.

When the manually operable handle 12 is in its stop position, alaterally offset cam surface 42 integrally formed on the shaft 11 is ina rotative position such that cam surface 42 has lifted the inner two ofthe wire contact springs 30, beneath which cam surface 42 is situated,into an upward position out of engagement with their associated contactconnectors 35. Of course, when the manually operable handle 12 isrotated farther in the clockwise direction, to the free wheelingposition illustrated in FIG. 4 the camming surface 42 has been rotatedstill higher and consequently lifts these two wire contact springsfarther away from their associated contact connectors 35.

When the handle 12 is rotated to the free wheeling position shown inFIG. 4, the shaft 11 rotates in a clockwise direction and a dependingarm 45 integrally formed with the shaft 11 rotates therewith to bringits cam shaped extremity 46 into engagement with an inclined surface 47on a blocking pawl 48 pivotally mounted on a pivot pin 49. During themovement of the handle 12 between the stop and free wheeling positionsshown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the cam shaped extremity 46 engages the inclinedsurface 47 and causes the blocking pawl 43 to rock in a clockwisedirection until the cam shaped extremity 46 is disposed within a lockingindentation 50 formed immediately above the inclined surface 47 on theblocking pawl 48. As shown in FIG. 4, the locking indentation 50 servesto lock the shaft 11 in its free wheeling position against the returnbias exerted thereon by the detent lever 20 and its spring 22.

Simultaneously with the rotation of the blocking pawl 43 in theclockwise direction against the urging of spring 51, a fork 52 on theblocking pawl 48 cams a pin 53 carried on feed pawl 54 in a clockwisedirection about the pivot pin 55 against the urging of a feed pawlspring 56. During the latter portion of its clockwise movement the pin53 engages an extension on 57 on detent lever 58 and causes the detentlever 58 to pivot clockwise about its pivot shaft 59 against the urgingof its associated contractile spring 60.

When the handle 12 is in the free wheeling position as shown in 'FIG. 4,the blocking pawl 48 has moved its blocking face 64 out of the path ofrotation of the teeth on the ratchet wheel 65; has moved tooth 66 of thefeed pawl 54 out of engagement with the ratchet teeth on ratchet wheel65; and has moved rounded camming surface 67 on the detent pawl 58 outof engagement with the teeth on the ratchet wheel 65. With the pawls inthe position shown in FIG. 4, the ratchet wheel 65 is now free to movein either the clockwise or counterclockwise direction upon the pullingor moving of a tape through the transmitter. The tape has feed holeperforations therein for meshing with feed pins 73 on a feed wheel 70.The

feed wheel 70 is rotatable on a shaft 71 that carries ratchet wheel 65and feed wheel 70 is interconnected with the ratchet wheel 65 by asleeve 72 encircling the shaft 71. To permit the rapid movement of tapethrough the transmitter in an unobstructed manner, it is desirable towithdraw a tape-out sensing pin 75 so that its sensing finger extremity76 is beneath the outer surface of a curved tape guiding surface 77 onthe transmitter and no longer biased into engagement with the tape. Thetape-out sensing pin 75 is of a rather complex shape as shown in FIG. 2and has a slot 78 formed therein to partially enclose a fixed pin 79.When there is no tape in the transmitter to depress the sensing fingerextremity 76 below the guiding surface 77, a spring 80 attached totape-out sensing pin 75 urges the tape sensing pin 75 upwardly andleftwardly to the position shown in FIG. 2 where the bottom of the slot78 is in contact with the pin 79.

When the tape is present within the machine, the sensing fingerextremity 76 is continuously urged by the attached spring 80 to engagethe underside of the tape and to bear thereagainst as the tape is beingfed forward. However, it is desirable when undergoing a free wheelingoperation to remove this drag on the tape by moving 4 the sensing pin 75downwardly and holding it downwardly so that the sensing fingerextremity 76 no longer bears upward against the underside of the tape incontact with guiding surface 77. To this end, the control shaft 11 isprovided with an integrally formed hook 81 that is positioned forhooking engagement with a downwardly bent hooked extremity 84 formed onthe tape-out sensing pin 75. As the shaft 11 rotates and moves the hook81 into engagement with the hooked extremity 84 of the tape sensing pin75, the tape sensing pin 75 will move downwardly against the urging ofthe spring 30 in a direction controlled by the moving of the slot 78along the fixed pin 79. The sensing pin 75 is oriented and guided tomove downwardly and guided against movement in a lateral direction by adepending surface 85 formed thereon positioned between adjacent andrising guiding projections 86 formed in the contact block 16.

It should be noted that the sensing pin 75 has a laterally turned arm 87which extends beneath all three of the wire contact springs 30 and whichbrings its insulated sleeve 88 thereon into engagement with the wirecontact springs 30 to lift the springs 30 out of engagement with theircontact connectors 35 when no tape is in the transmitter. Thus, theenergizing circuit for the transmitter is opened when the sensing pin 75moves upwardly and detects the absence of a tape within the transmitter.

From the foregoing it should be apparent that by the provision of asingle, inexpensive, cast, plastic, control lever, a means is providedfor enabling and disabling the operation of the transmitter and fordisabling both the transmitter and feed mechanism upon the movement ofthe lever to its respective run, stop or free wheeling positions.

Although only one embodiment of the invention is shown in the drawingsand described in the foregoing specification, it will be understood thatinvention is not limited to the specific embodiment described but iscapable of modification and rearrangement and substitution of parts andelements without departing from the spirit of the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. In a tape sensing transmitter having contacts for controlling theoperation thereof, a tape feed mechanism for feeding a perforated tapethrough the transmitter and a tape-out sensing pin for detecting thepresence or absence of a tape Within the transmitter, the improvementcomprising a control means having:

(a) a rotatable shaft mounted in said transmitter,

(12) a manually operable handle means attached to said shaft forrotating said shaft to various positions,

(0) a first means operable by said shaft for controlling the conditionof said contacts to start and stop operation of said transmitter,

(d) a second means controlled by said shaft for disengaging said tapefeed mechanism and for maintaining said tape feed mechanism disabled,and

(e) a third means operable by said rotatable shaft for depressing saidtape-out sensing pin thereby permitting the tape to be moved freelythrough the transmitter.

2. In a tape sensing transmitter having contacts for controlling theelectrical energization and de-energization thereof, a tape feedingmechanism operable to feed a tape therethrough, and a tape-out sensingpin for detecting the presence or absence of a tape therein, theimprovement comprising a control means having:

(a) a rotatable means mounted in said transmitter,

(b) an integrally formed and manually operable extension on saidrotatable means for rotating said rotatable means between variouspositions,

(0) a first integrally formed means on said rotatable means foroperating said contacts upon rotation of said rotatable means topredetermined positions,

(d) a second integrally formed means on said rotatable means fordisabling said tape feeding mechanism and for holding said tape feedingmechanism in its disabled condition while said rotatable means is in apredetermined position, and

(e) a third, integrally formed means on said rotatable means fordepressing said tape-out sensing pin to prevent it from hinderingmovement of the tape through the tape transmitter.

3. In the transmitter of claim 2, a frame having at least one slottherein for supporting said rotatable means for rotary movement, and adetent means urged into engagement with said rotatable means to detentsaid rotatable means in at least one of its predetermined positions andto retain said rotatable means in the slot in said frame.

4. In the transmitter of claim 2, wherein said rotatable means is ashaft of one-piece, plastic construction.

5. In a tape sensing transmitter having contacts for controlling theoperation thereof, a tape feed mechanism for feeding a perforated tapethrough the transmitter and a tape-out sensing pin for detecting thepresence or absence of a tape within the transmitter, the improvementcomprising a single oscillatable control member having integrally formedthereon:

(a) a hook for engaging a portion of the tape-out sensing pin to retractsaid pin from its detecting position,

(b) a plurality of cam surfaces for opening various of said contacts invarious oscillatory positions of said member, and

(c) an arm having a camming extremity for disabling the tape feedmechanism by camming a blocking pawl to a predetermined position todisengage said pawl, a drive pawl and a detent from a feed ratchet.

6. In a transmitter having a tape feed mechanism with a ratchet wheeloperable by a feed pawl to rotate a tape feed wheel to feed the tapeforward through the transmitter, the improvement comprising:

(a) a detent lever means urged into engagement with said ratchet Wheelto hold said ratchet wheel against movement until said feed pawl rotatessaid ratchet wheel,

(11) a blocking means movable into position to engage said ratchet withsaid feed pawl wheel and to limit overtravel of the ratchet wheel andthe tape feed wheel due to their inertia, and

(c) a manually operable control means movable between various positions,and

(d) means operable by said manually operable control means to move feedpawl, said detent lever, and said blocking means to an inoperativeposition with respect to said ratchet wheel.

7. In a tape sensing transmitter having a tape feed mechanism with aratchet wheel operable by a feed pawl to rotate a feed wheel to feed aperforated tape therethrough, the improvement comprising:

(a) a detent lever urged into engagement with said ratchet wheel to holdsaid ratchet wheel against movement except by said feed pawl,

(b) said feed pawl having an extension thereon operable to move saiddetent lever to a noneifective position,

(0) a blocking pawl having a slot therein for receiving said extensionon the feed pawl whereby movement of said blocking pawl causes amovement of said feed pawl and whereby movement of said feed pawl causesmovement of said blocking pawl,

(d) a camming surface on said blocking pawl,

(e) a detent surface on said blocking pawl, and

(f) a control lever having an extension for camming said blocking pawlto an inoperative position and thereby carrying said feed pawl to aposition where it is effective through the extension on the feed pawl tomove said detent lever to a noneifective position, said extension onsaid control lever also movable into the detenting surface on theblocking pawl to hold said blocking lever and detent lever in theirineffective position.

8. In a tape sensing transmitter having a tape feed mechanism includinga ratchet wheel operable by a feed pawl to rotate a feed wheel to feed aperforated tape therethrough, the improvement comprising:

(a) a detent lever urged into engagement with said ratchet wheel to holdsaid ratchet wheel against movement except by said feed pawl,

(17) a blocking means movable into engagement with said ratchet wheel tolimit overtravel of said ratchet Wheel and tape wheel due to theirinertia,

(c) means on said feed pawl operable to move said blocking pawl intoengagement with said ratchet wheel when said feed pawl moves in onedirection and operable when said feed pawl moves in the oppositedirection to move said feed pawl to move said blocking pawl fromengaging said feed wheel, said means on said feed pawl also operable tomove said detent lever from engagement with said ratchet wheel when saidfeed pawl is moving to a predetermined, free wheeling position, and

(d) a manually operable control means for moving said feed pawl and saidblocking means to an inoperative, free wheeling position and therebythrough said means on said feed pawl causing said detent lever to bemoved to a free wheeling position.

9. In a tape sensing transmitter having a tape feed mechanism includinga ratchet wheel operable by a feed pawl lever means to rotate a feedwheel to feed a perforated tape therethrough, the improvementcomprising:

(a) a detent lever means urged into engagement with said ratchet wheelto hold said ratchet wheel against movement except by said feed pawllever means,

(b) a blocking lever means movable into engagement With the ratchetwheel during the terminal portion of a tape feeding cycle by said feedpawl lever means to limit the amount of rotation of said ratchet wheel,

(0) cooperable means on said feed pawl and blocking lever means to causesaid feed pawl and blocking lever means to move simultaneously towardsaid ratchet wheel and away from said ratchet Wheel,

(d) means on said detent lever means operable during movement of saidfeed pawl and blocking lever means to an inoperative position to causesaid detent lever means to move to an inoperative position, and

(e) a manually operable control means operable to rotate one of saidlever means to an inoperative, free wheeling, position and therebythrough said cooperable means to move said feed pawl and blocking levermeans to ensure their movement to an inopera tive, free wheelingposition and also to ensure move ment of said detent lever means to aninoperative position.

No references cited.

1. IN A TAPE SENSING TRANSMITTER HAVING CONTACTS FOR CONTROLLING THEOPERATION THEREOF, A TAPE FEED MECHANISM FOR FEEDING A PERFORATED TAPETHROUGH THE TRANSMITTER AND A TAPE-OUT SENSING PIN FOR DETECTING THEPRESENCE OR ABSENCE OF A TAPE WITHIN THE TRANSMITTER, THE IMPROVEMENTCOMPRISING A CONTROL MEANS HAVING: (A) A ROTATABLE SHAFT MOUNTED IN SAIDTRANSMITTER, (B) A MANUALLY OPERABLE HANDLE MEANS ATTACHED TO SAID SHAFTFOR ROTATING SAID SHAFT TO VARIOUS POSITIONS, (C) A FIRST MEANS OPERABLEBY SAID SHAFT FOR CONTROLLING THE CONDITION OF SAID CONTRACTS TO STARTAND STOP OPERATION OF SAID TRANSMITTER, (D) A SECOND MEANS CONTROLLED BYSAID SHAFT FOR DISENGAGING SAID TAPE FEED MECHANISM AND FOR MAINTAININGSAID TAPE FEED MECHANISM DISABLED, AND (E) A THIRD MEANS OPERABLE BYSAID ROTATABLE SHAFT FOR DEPRESSING SAID TAPE-OUT SENSING PIN THEREBYPERMITTING THE TAPE TO BE MOVED FREELY THROUGH THE TRANSMITTER.